What the hill?
by Cescalia
Summary: The class makes a daytrip to the ski resort, where Adrien and Marinette are stuck with each other on a ski lift, which would take them to the top of the hill.


The sun was looming in the sky as the bright rays shimmered on the fresh patch of white snow that lay on the hills. The faculty decided that it would be a good idea if the classes went on a daytrip, away from Paris, so the pupils could have a chance to experience different winter sports. The mountains seemed to be a great getaway place for the young students.

"I still can't believe you chose snowboard over skis!" Marinette exclaimed as she was securing her heavy boots onto the skis that she had rented from the ski resort. Alya smirked and turned her head to glance at Nino who was standing nearby. He had his own snowboard clasped in his left hand and feeling someone's eyes on him, he was momentarily distracted from his conversation with Adrien. Looking around, he spotted two familiar girls and when he saw Alya winking at him, he grinned and waved.

"I can't imagine, why I would do that," Alya snorted while Marinette simply rolled her eyes and took the hold of her ski poles.

Marinette sighed at her friend's obvious tactics to get closer to Nino. "So, you plan to leave me all alone as you have yet another excuse to flirt."

"Well...can't argue with that, but you can always ask Adrien to accompany you to the hill," Alya suggested and sniggered as her friend's cheeks tinted pink at the mention of her crush, "I'm sure he will be _thrilled_ to help you, I heard he is talented in lots of things." She wiggled her eyebrows and Marinette almost lost her balance on the slightly uneven ground.

"Okay, I have heard enough," Marinette blurted and took off towards the slope. "We'll meet up for lunch in two hours, right?" she called over her shoulder and got back a single coherent sound of agreement.

Marinette slid down for the ninth time and felt the cold harsh wind sweeping through her winter jacket. She was used to the thrill of the speed and falling through the air weightlessly, but there was something endearing about experiencing the same feeling as her civilian self. Her eyes could barely stay open and her cheeks were surely rose-coloured by now from the sharp wind. Marinette was again slightly disappointed when she reached the end of the slope and had to wait in line to get on the lift, which rode up for twice as much time as she descended down.

Her hands fidgeted while she grew nervous, hoping that nobody else decided to use the same lift as her. She never knew what to say to the random strangers, who thought that it would be better to ride together to the top, so the line would get shorter in less time. When it was her turn to go, she quickly took her place and stared straight ahead. She was stealing glances at the lift coming closer, so she could grab it at the right time to put it behind her for support.

As Marinette waited anxiously for the lift to arrive, so it could take her to the high top of the mountain, she felt her heart drop. She heard the rustle of clothes and the snow creaking under the winter equipment as someone slid next to her. The person was situated sideways to her, so she knew that they had to have been snowboarding.

"Hey, Marinette! You won't mind if I ride with you?" She heard the person next to her say breathlessly and her heartbeat quickened instantly as Adrien, the person she least expected to see, chose to ride to the top with her.

It was too late to escape, they had already started moving and she couldn't believe she had missed the moment in which she was supposed to grab the handle, and for her relief and mortification, Adrien had already put it in place effortlessly. She grabbed the handle and was brought back to the situation at hand.

"Adrien! I-I didn't expect...you," Marinette managed to stutter in a voice which was a few tones higher than her usual.

Adrien smiled easily. "Do you like the trip so far?" He asked and she felt his warm breath tingle and tickle her face. She hadn't noticed how close they were and hoped that those five minutes that took them to ride to the top, would pass quickly or else her heart would jump out of her rib cage, if it decided to continue beating at the same rapid pace. Her mind went blank for a second, when she remembered he had asked her a question.

"Uhm, I guess? I love the feeling I get when I slide down the hill, so...familiar yet so different," she acknowledged after the embarrassingly long pause.

Adrien peered over her attentively, until something made him intake his breath sharply. "Familiar? You make it a habit, getting an adrenaline rush?" He questioned with a confused tone that covered up the edge of astonishment and excitement in his voice. Marinette could feel her whole face flush, remarking her slip-up, and she tried to think her way out of the awkward and possibly revealing situation.

Her luck hadn't left her and she was spared from answering as the lift halted abruptly and stopped completely. Adrien grabbed her waist in a desperate attempt to not lose his balance and stumble to the ground. Marinette had already turned the tips of her skis sideways, so she wouldn't slide down backwards.

They were both breathing heavily, trying to slow down the nervousness that bubbled inside them and the suspicion of there being an akuma, even if they were far away from Paris. Marinette knew that those things happened once in a while, machines were flawed and the electricity in the wires might not always transfer without interruption.

"I guess we should be more used to these kind of things," Adrien commented with a small laugh.

"What do you mean?," Marinette asked confusedly, trying to ignore his hand that was still grasping her jacket and hadn't moved an inch.

"I-I mean, in the city there-there is always danger around and you never know when a-another akuma has appeared to wreak havoc," Adrien stumbled on his words, suddenly nervous to talk about something that was trivial for ordinary citizens, but which could also lead to his identity's discovery.

Marinette blinked and said nothing, wondering why he would bring up the akuma attacks, when the only thing that happened was a small obstacle, caused by common manufacturing defect or weather conditions.

She had a vacant and thoughtful look in her bright blue eyes and rosy cheeks from the cold air. Adrien suddenly felt his face flush and his gaze flickered downward to her lips that she was biting absent-mindedly as something was bothering her and she wanted to figure it out. Marinette noticed the movement of his eyes and a blush, starting from her neck, painted her face almost crimson.

The lift started moving again and both teens turned their heads away, blushing furiously for a reason they didn't understand. Their conversation had been overly innocent, but still the air between them had changed. Adrien realized that he was still grasping Marinette's jacket and he loosened his fingers, but didn't want to take his hand away yet.

"You're surprisingly good." Marinette was able to say without a stutter and she hoped this would last, she couldn't bear anymore embarrassment, she had had enough of it for one day.

"Yeah? You saw me?" Adrien smiled sincerely and Marinette realized her slip up. Now he would think she had nothing better to do than stare at him and follow him around.

"Uhm..well..uh-yes?"

"I haven't snowboarded in years. I used to come here often with my mom." His voice trailed off and Marinette didn't know how to steer the conversation off the uncomfortable topic.

"You've been here before?" Adrien asked, trying to lighten the sour mood that he had inadvertently created.

"Yeah."

Adrien frowned at her short answer and he was wondering, if he had upset her somehow, he wanted to keep on talking with her, because he almost never had a chance.

"So, what do you think about Ladybug?" Adrien wanted to slap himself in the face. Marinette would only think that he was wondering about the superhero of Paris, not that he was madly in love with her, right? It is supposedly one of the most talked subjects in town, nothing to do with the fact that she was all that was on his mind most of the time, she wouldn't be suspicious at all. Perfect for starting the conversation and breaking the ice.

"W-what?"

"I mean she's amazing, don't you think? Protecting Paris all by herself, and can you even imagine how much courage it takes, to be always fighting villains? Because let me tell you, they are pretty frightening sometimes, also she cares so much about the civilians," he realized, he was starting to ramble and had already said too much.

"She's not by herself. She has Chat Noir." Marinette was amazed that Adrien thought so highly of her, but before she could think over the comments he had said about her, she couldn't ignore that he had completely missed her partner's role in her success.

Adrien looked surprised at her remark. "Well, Ladybug does most of the work, I don't think Chat Noir is that much of a help, lots of times he's just in the way."

"She couldn't have done half of the things she has done without him by her side, they complete each other, they are partners. They are better together, than apart, if it wasn't for him, Ladybug could have been exposed and lost the fight many times already."

Marinette was annoyed, she didn't want to believe that Adrien would be the one to neglect Chat Noir, he was so important to her. In her haste to stand up for Chat, she hadn't even noticed that she hadn't stuttered a single word and Adrien was gaping at her.

"I-I didn't think you would get upset, I'm sorry," Adrien was astonished, Marinette thought so much of him, of Chat, he had never met anyone getting so worked up on his behalf. He had always considered that everyone accepted that Ladybug was the better one out of the duo, the one who cleansed the akuma and used the healing light. He was only the distraction, needing to protect her as much as he could; she was more important than him.

"It's okay. It just rubs me off the wrong way, when people don't appreciate Chat. He deserves so much more recognition."

Adrien couldn't help but look at Marinette in a new light after her revelation. She believed he was valuable and wasn't just a waste of space like what many people said about him. He could feel his lips curling up in a smile and his heart warmed up with the thought that someone cared, and that someone was Marinette.

They had reached the top of the mountain and it was only a matter of time before they had to slide off, which would be proven a bit difficult in the position they were in.

"Which way are you going?" Adrien asked while trying to keep his voice completely unaffected, still not being able to forget that she had said so many kind words about him.

"Right. You?"

"Left."

'Damn it,' he cursed silently, they were going on the opposite slopes, which meant that they had to somehow switch their positions and cross each other. It was easier said than done.

"Okay, I'm coming with you, then I can move sides later, I don't really fancy going on that bumpy slope yet, when I have just reminded myself how to snowboard."

Marinette seemed puzzled and a little bit guilty, that because of her he had to go through more trouble, but reluctantly she agreed.

They watched the end of the lift cable coming closer and waited in anticipation for the right moment to hop off. It seemed like they could sense the slightest movements the other one made and understand each other without any words spoken between them as they started moving at the same time.

It was a flawless drop-off, they had both let go of the handle and were now gliding towards the slope on their right hand. Unfortunately, they hadn't taken notice of one uneven bump on their way and Marinette stumbled directly on it, dragging Adrien, who had left his hand rest on her waist, towards the ground with her.

Marinette and Adrien closed their eyes on the impact with the surface and the pain from their collision kicked in. Their legs were jumbled together awkwardly with the equipment and they knew there would be bruises the next day. They opened their eyes and stared at each other, both being too familiar with the position they found themselves in; Adrien on top of Marinette, with his hands on different sides of her face, while she was pinned to the ground.

In the moment of confusion and resemblance, Adrien let a grin slip out, which definitely didn't belong to this side of him. Marinette furrowed her brows and huffed, her face being shadowed by the annoyance of the situation; almost automatically she raised her hand onto his cheek turning his face away.

The shock of the action settled over them both and they realized that there were no masks nor suits involved, there was only Marinette and Adrien, who had unluckily fell down pressed against each other.

The guests of the ski resort looked around in bewilderment, when they heard the faint screams coming from the top of the mountain.


End file.
